Carlsbad, CA, Friday May 13, 2011
At the annual NHLPA Rookie Showcase in Toronto, Upper Deck staffers show up to capture unique on-ice film and footage of the NHL’s newest rookie recruits. The photo shoots are awesome, allowing the company to secure shots of the players sporting their new NHL uniforms for the first time, but the video vignettes are what usually bring the house down. Just prior to the start of this season, at the MasterCard Centre in Etobicoke, Ontario, Upper Deck was back at it with the best of the NHL’s finest young guns prepping to make their on-ice debuts earlier this season. There were 23 NHL newcomers in attendance (up from 14 last year) sporting their new hockey uniforms in a variety of poses for upcoming card releases. Along with the photo sessions, Upper Deck also produced a total of five rookie videos, the last of which is now ready for its theatrical release – just in time for the Conference Finals.

The three-minute clip is entitled “Upper Deck Pinpoints Overzealous Fans for NHL Rookies” and stars three first-year centers: Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles Kings); Jeff Skinner (Carolina Hurricanes); and Joe Colborne (then with the Boston Bruins). The story line is this: Fans can sometimes be unreasonable, a little squirrelly and even outright demanding. How should a professional hockey player react? Watch as Schenn, Skinner and Colborne handle the likes of fantasy hockey fan to man-crush fan to greedy autograph collector fan, respectively. Click here to see how it’s done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU0A0tYMrcg.

Additional skits included media training scenarios and how to sign autographs like a champ. Rookies ranging from Colborne and Tyler Seguin (Bruins) to Erik Gudbranson and Jacob Markstrom (Panthers) to Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle (Oilers) all took turns in front of the camera as Upper Deck put them in various scenes. It was a thrill for each of the rookies to participate.